One and Done Works Out Well for North Iowa
September 29, 2008 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
North Iowa Outlaws News Release
Mason City (IA) One game was enough to produce a win and provide an emotional early season lift for the North Iowa Outlaws who defeated the Owatonna Express 4-1 on September 26th. With a home opening crowd of 1,022 in attendance at the Fairgrounds Arena, Kurt Weston's (Roseau, MN) two goals paced the Outlaws who outshot their I-35 rivals 42-22 to snap a three-game losing streak.
Though still in the season's infantile stages, any losing streak is an undesirable trait so to break out of its slimy grasp is an accomplishment not worth overlooking as the Outlaws' prevented what would've been the their longest such streak in two seasons. Not only that, but they did so with their most complete effort of the season's first four games.
Handicapped by slow starts and always playing from behind at the NAHL Showcase, the Outlaws controlled the first 40-minutes of the game with strong neutral zone play and a defense that was shy of mistakes. When pressed into action, goaltender Thomas Callaghan (New Westminster, PA) made a couple nice saves to keep momentum on the side of the Outlaws.
"The guys were fired up with the great crowd in attendance and wanted to put on a show and I think they did that" said first year Outlaws' head coach Jeff Crouse. "We talked all week about having a better start and we did that and kept it going all game."
The win was the Outlaws' third in four franchise home openers and the announced crowd of more than a 1,000 was the team's second largest home opening attendance behind only the franchise's first home game in 2005.
"We couldn't be any happier with the crowd on Friday night considering the summer-like weather and with about four different home coming football games in the region to boot" added general manager Steve Strasheim.
The one and done week is last such weekend for the Outlaws' until the weekend on November 8th when they will play one home game versus Owatonna. That will be the team's final weekend with only one game for the remainder of the season.
Friday's win was also a sense of redemption for North Iowa which began their new series history with Owatonna 1-0 after being dominated by their predecessors the Southern Minnesota Express. While technically a new team, for most in attendance, they will still view the two organizations as one in the same making the victory all that much sweeter.
North Iowa will go Bismarck this weekend for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday this week to face a Bobcats' team that the Outlaws have dominated in the past. North Iowa has won 17 straight versus Bismarck with the last time they lost to the Bobcats coming February 2006.
Outlaws Last Week
Fri. Sept. 26 vs. Owatonna 4-1 win att. 1,022
Outlaws This Week
Fri. Oct. 3 vs. Bismarck 7:30pm
Sat. Oct. 4 vs. Bismarck 7:00pm
North American Hockey League Stories from September 29, 2008
- Bismarck starts strong at home - NAHL
- Phantoms' Lundholm Profiled by Hockey Journal - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- Machine weekly - Motor City Metal Jackets
- One and Done Works Out Well for North Iowa - North Iowa Outlaws
- Outlaws' Dance Team Schedules Workshop - North Iowa Outlaws
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